Sealing member

ABSTRACT

A SEALING MEMBERS FOR A TOILET BOWL AND ITS CONNECTED WASTE PIPE EXTENDING THROUGH AND OPENING IN A FLOOR COMPRISING A UNITARY BODY OF RESILIENT MATERIAL DEFINED BY AN ANNULAR MAIN PORTION TO PROVIDE A SEAL BETWEEN THE OUTLET OF THE TOILET BOWL AND THE WASTE PIPE, AN INNER PORTION PROJECTING FROM THE MAIN PORTION INTO THE WASTE PIPE TO FORM AN INNER SLEEVE THEREFOR, AND AN OUTER PORTION SUR-   ROUNDING THE MAIN PORTION TO PROVIDE ANOTHER SEAL AROUND SAID FLOOR OPENING, SAID OUTER PORTION BEING OF A RELATIVE THICKNESS WITH RESPECT TO THE MAIN PORTION TO ALLOW IT TO BE FURTHER EASILY COMPRESSED IN ORDER TO WITHSTAND RELATIVE MOVEMENTS DUE TO SHOCKS OR THE LIKE.

March 9, 1971 R. w. GANTZERT SEALING MEMBER Filed Dec.

m W I B 8 1 Lo. 3/ ....r... a. a 9 1 m I a o 4 l H w a w 7 l INVENTOR.Faber! M! 'dnfzarf ATTORNEY United States Patent O 3,568,222 SEALINGMEMBER Robert W. Gantzert, 205 Cleveland Ave., San Jose, Calif. 95128Filed Dec. 16, 1968, Ser. No. 784,092 Int. Cl. E03d 11/00 US. Cl. 4-2523 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A sealing member for a toilet bowland its connected waste pipe extending through an opening in a floorcomprising a unitary body of resilient material defined by an annularmain portion to provide a seal between the outlet of the toilet bowl andthe waste pipe, an inner portion projecting from the main portion intothe Waste pipe to form an inner sleeve therefor, and an outer portionsurrounding the main portion to provide another seal around said flooropening, said outer portion being of a relative thickness with respectto the main portion to allow it to be further easily compressed in orderto withstand relative movements due to shocks or the like.

The present invention relates to a sealing member, and more particularlyrelates to a sealing member for a toilet bowl and its connected wastepipe.

In a conventional plumbing system for a toilet bowl, a waste pipeextends through an opening in a floor. A collar of the conventional typeis connected by solidified poured lead to the upper end of the wastepipe to form a fluid tight connection therebetween. The collar has aflange which rests on the floor and which has slots along the peripheryof the collar to receive bolts to fasten the toilet bowl in position.Sealing members of the conventional type include gaskets having acompressible ring of wax which are difiicult to install since they donot provide sufficient resilience to maintain good sealing when relativemovements occur. When resilient sealing gaskets made of rubber or thelike are provided, then they are difiicult to install because they haveto be carefully positioned to insure proper positioning wheninstallation is completed. At times, more than one gasket is used, andproper relative resiliency between the gaskets is needed to provide forrelative movements due to shocks or the like.

The present invention provides a resilient unitary sealing member whichcan be properly and easily positioned for installation, and enables atight seal connection to be provided between the outlet of the toiletbowl and the waste pipe, and also provides an additional seal around theopening in the floor, and at the same time allows normal relativemovement between the toilet bowl and the waste pipe while maintainingboth seal connections.

It is therefore an object of this invention to provide a unitary sealingmember for enabling a tight water seal between the outlet of a tolietbowl and its connected waste pipe.

Another object of this invention is to provide a unitary resilientsealing member for sealing the outlet of a toilet bowl with itsconnected waste pipe, and at the same time sealing the floor openingaround the waste pipe.

A further object of this invention is to provide a unitary resilientsealing member for providing a seal between the outlet of a toilet bowlwith its connected waste pipe, and also sealing the floor opening aroundthe waste pipe, and further allowing normal relative movement betweenthe waste pipe and the toilet bowl while maintaining both sealconnections.

A still further object of this invention is to provide a unitary sealingmember that is resilient and can be perma- Patented Mar. 9, 1971 icenently installed to allow relative movement, and yet maintain a tightseal for the outlet of the toilet bowl with its associated waste pipe,and also maintain an adequate seal around the floor opening of the wastepipe.

Another object of this invention is to provide a unitary sealing memberfor a toilet bowl and its connected waste pipe that can be quickly andeasily installed.

The novel features which are believed to be characteristic of theinvention, both as to its organization and method of operation, togetherwith further objects and advantages thereof, will be better understoodfrom the following description considered in connection with theaccompanying drawings in which an embodiment of the invention isillustrated by way of example. It is to be expressly understood,however, that the drawings are for the purpose of illustration anddescription only and are not intended as a definition of the limits ofthe invention.

FIG. 1 is a side view of a mounted toilet bowl connected to waste pipeextending through an opening in a floor, and including an installedsealing member of this invention.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged top view of the sealing member of this inventionshown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a section view along lines 33 of FIG. 2 showing the crosssection of the sealing member of this invention.

Referring now to the figures, FIG. 1 illustrates a typical toilet bowl10 partially in cross-section connected to a waste pipe 11 extendingthrough an opening in floor 12. Toilet bowl 10 is seen to hold sometrapped Water in passageway 13 which connects with a circular interioroutlet 14 formed of the material of the toilet bowl terminated by anextension generally referred to as a born 15. Toilet bowl 10 has a base16 with a downwardly projecting base flange 17. Waste pipe 11 connectsto a sewer line, and is seen to extend through an opening in floor 12. Acollar 18 having a circular flange 19 which covers the opening in floor12, and is fastened thereto by conven tional means such as by screws orbolts. Collar 18 is permanently attached to the upper end of waste pipe11 by a solidified molten lead v20 connecting collar 18 and waste pipe11. A sealing member of this invention generally designated as 211 isseen mounted between toilet bowl 10, floor 12, and collar 18.

FIGS. 2 and 3 show enlarged views of sealing member 21 of thisinvention. Sealing member 21 is seen to comprise a unitary body ofresilient material such as rubber or the like, and includes a mainportion 22, an inner portion 23, and an outer portion 24. Main portion22 is a circular body from which an inner portion 23 projects downwardfrom its inner diameter forming a sleeve to be snugly fitted withinwaste pipe 11. Outer portion 24 surrounds main portion 22, and has asmaller thickness than main portion 22.

As seen in FIG. .1, sealing member 21 is shown to be mounted in thetoilet bowl installation. Main portion 22 extends from the outer edge offlange 19 of collar 18 up to born 15 of outlet 14. Connecting memberssuch as a bolt 25 extend upwardly through a slot 26 in flange 19,through a hole in main portion 22, and through a hole in base 1 6. A nut27 threaded on the upper end of bolt 25 secures the toilet bowl to floor12. As the top surface of flange 19 of collar 18 has irregularities, theconnecting members such as bolt 25 are tightened to adequately compressthe resilient material of main portion 22 in order to provide a tightpermanent water seal. Outer portion 24 continues outwardly from outeredge of flange 19 beyond the edge of floor covering 28, such as tile,linoleum, or the like. Outer portion 24 will also be compressed toengage both floor 12 and floor covering 28 to provide a water-tight sealtherefor.

For installation purposes, the sleeve of the inner portion 23 can beinserted in Waste pipe b1 thereby quickly and easily fixing the locationof sealing member 21. Instead of using wax or putty, which arentresilient, this sealing member 21 utilizes two portions 22 and 24 ofdifferent thicknesses of resilient material. It will be realized that atight seal is required for water flow under pressure that will occurperiodically from outlet 14 into waste pipe 11, so that little relativemovement can be tolerated. However, a very tight seal is not necessaryto stop water seepage (not being under such pressure) from flowing alongfloor 12 or its floor covering 28. When normal and expected movementsresult from the settling of the building, or from vibrations or shocksdue to vehicle tratfic, or even earth tremors, both of the sealengagements provided by the sealing member of this invention will not beupset. By utilizing resilient material of different thicknesses inportions 22 and. 24 of sealing member 21, the water tight connection ofmain portion 22 will not be broken; however, the sealing engagement ofouter portion 24 will be maintained, and yet provide additionalresilience to allow such relative movements without disrupting thetoilet bowl connection.

It is to be noted that outer portion 24 extends beyond circular flange19 of collar 18 to enable it to cover floor covering 28 on floor 12. Ascollar 1-8 is generally positioned at or close to the level of floor-12, outer portion 24 has been described as being of a smaller thicknessthan main portion 22. In case collar 18 is positioned further abovefloor 12 than indicated, it will be realized that outer portion .24 maythen be of a greater thickness than that shown; it may even be thickerthan main portion 22. However, outer portion 24 should provide clearanceabove the floor surface when the sealing member is positioned forinstallation, but not as yet compressed. In

for sealing the edges of the floor surrouding said opening, said sealingmember comprising a unitary body of resilient material defined by a mainportion to be positioned between the outlet of the toilet bowl and thetop surface of the flanged collar of the waste'pipe,

an inner portion extending from the main portion to project downwardinto the waste pipe to locate the sealing member and to provide an innersleeve for the waste pipe,

and an outer portion surrounding the main portion and having a thicknesswith respect to that of the main portion to provide clearance above thefloor surface when the sealing member is not compressed, whereby whensaid sealing member is mounted between the outlet of the toilet bowl andthe flanged collar of the waste pipe with its outer portion projectinginto the waste pipe, said mainportion can be forced to be compressedinto tight sealing engagement with the outlet of the toilet bowl and theflanged collar, said outer portion being pressed toward the floorsurface to also seal the opening thereof, and said outer portion beingcapable of being further easily compressed to allow a greater movementof the toilet bowl relative to the waste pipe.

2. The sealing member defined in claim 1 wherein said main portion isannular in cross-section and conforms to the shape of the flangedcollar, and said main portion is of a greater thickness than said outerportion extending therefrom, said outer portion providing anothersealing engagement with said floor with additional resilience to allow agreater movement of the toilet bowl relative to the waste pipe.

3. The sealing'member defined in claim 2 wherein said inner portionextends downward from the inner diameter of the main portion forming asleeve to be snugly fitted within said waste pipe.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 6/1956 Thies 4-452 3/1961 Turneret a1. 4252

